The two volume set edited by James Charlesworth is probably the best collection of the pseudepigrapha in English. Each entry contains an intro with more into on the books included. It was published in the early 1980s so its a bit dated but a good point of entry into the literature.
This two-volume set of pseudepigrapha has no fewer than three extant versions of the Book of Enoch, as well as a great many other interesting and peculiar things. I read through the first volume, this past year, and considered it a worthwhile undertaking.
Fallen Angels referenced in James H Charlesworth - The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha ( 2 Volume set)
https://www.amazon.com/Old-Testament-Pseudepigrapha-set/dp/1598564897
fallen (evil). See also Lucifer; Satan
in Apocalypse of Abraham, 1:684
in 2 Baruch, 1:641
demons as, in Testament of Solomon, 1:952, 953
in 1 Enoch, 1:xxx, 9, 15, 19, 24, 44, 47-49. 63-64, 70, 957
in 2 Enoch, 1:96, 112-15, 130-33
evil as caused by, 1:xxx, 106 nle
in Pseudo-Philo, 2:301, 348
in Questions of Ezra, 1:594, 596-97
in Testament of Reuben, 1:784, 842 nóc
FYI, I forgot to mention I do have James H Charlesworth The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha ( 2 Volume set) - https://www.amazon.com/Old-Testament-Pseudepigrapha-set/dp/1598564897/
I believe these books were published 8nitially in the early 1980s, not sure if there are more up to date translations with updated academic criticism, etc:
Τhe Old Testament PSEUDEPIGRAPHA, VOLUME ONE, Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments & VOLUME TWO, Expansions of the "Old Testament" and Legends, Wisdom and Philosophical Literature. Prayers, Psalms, and Odes. Fragments of Lost Judeo-Hellenistic Works:
Apocalypse of Abraham
Apocalypse of Adam
Testament of Adam
Life of Adam and Eve
Ahiqar
Letters of Aristeas
Aristeas the Exegete
Aristobulus
Artapanus 2 Baruch
3 Baruch
4 Baruch
Cleodemus Malchus
Apocalypse of Daniel
More Psalms of David
Demetrius the Chronographer
Eldad and Modad Apocalypse of Elijah
1 Enoch
2 Enoch
3 Enoch
Eupolemus
Pseudo-Eupolemus
Apocryphon of Ezekiel
Ezekiel the Tragedian
Fourth Book of Ezra
Greek Apocalypse of Ezra
Questions of Ezra
Revelation of Ezra
Vision of Ezra
Fragments of Pseudo-Greek Poets
Pseudo-Hecatacus
Hellenistic Synagogal Prayers
Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah
Ladder of Jacob
Prayer of Jacob
Jannes and Jambres.
Testament of Job Joseph and Aseneth
History of Joseph Prayer of Joseph
Jubilees
3 Maccabees
4 Maccabees
Prayer of Manasseh
Syriac Menander
Testament of Moses
Orphica
Philo the Epic Poet
Pseudo-Philo
Pseudo-Phocylides
The Lives of the Prophets
History of the Rechabites
Apocalypse of Sedrach
Treatise of Shem
Sibylline Oracles
Odes of Solomon Psalms of Solomon
Testament of Solomon
Theodotus
Testaments of the Three Patriarchs
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
Apocalypse of Zephaniah
James Charles worth has an excellent two volume translation that I highly recommend:
Pseudepigrapha is the word you’re looking for. Here’s a collection for the OT:
https://www.amazon.com/Old-Testament-Pseudepigrapha-set/dp/1598564897/
Peace unto you and welcome. I think you will be interested in these commentaries. They give many deep meanings of events in the Bible. For example, in the Book of Numbers, God had the encampments of the 12 Tribes arranged around the Ark of the Covenant to the north, south, east, and west, and from above, the formation could have been seen to be a cross-shape, prefiguring the symbol of Christianity. Probably you know Arabic, and the commentaries are all originally in Arabic but some are not yet translated into English. I have been reading the English versions. Another fascinating commentary is St Ephrem of Syria on Genesis. You can download it from Scribd, by subscription or by uploading a PDF Scribd doesn’t have yet.
Also, please don’t overlook the further books of the Eastern Biblical Canons. Sorry I don’t have a truly authoritative list, but they are apparently all listed on Wikipedia (our Eastern Catholic Canons are the same as the Orthodox ones, by the way), and most are published on line at Early Jewish Writings. Some are not published there but are linked to the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (a few are not actually pseudepigrapha, since they are in some of the canons). Each volume of that is about 1000 pages, so I’d say it would be generally for extended study.
One of those items, the Hellenistic Synagogal Prayers, is not canonical but it has a prayer, the one beginning “It is truly worthy and right before all things to sing a hymn to you,” that is the basis of the Preface of the Anaphora (i.e. a certain prayer) in every Liturgy and Mass, East and West, and of even the Anglican and Lutheran services. That’s why St James’s mentions “the choir of the stars”, St. John Chrysostom’s begins “It is truly meet and right to hymn you,” the Qurbana begins “P: To sing praises and worship the Creator of all things… R: assuredly is good and right,” etc. (I was amazed to discover the prayer and the connections, and don’t know why that common background isn’t common knowledge.)
There are also the Early Christian Writings, of which the Infancy Gospel of James is (I think) THE MOST IMPORTANT THING for you to read before you read the Gospels (being the first books) in the New Testament. It is gives the background: who the Virgin Mary’s parents are, what her miraculous origin is, what happened to her in childhood, who St Joseph is, and how he was chosen. Even though it is not canonical, it is still holy. We have holidays called the Conception by St Anna of the Most Holy Theotokos (Mother of God, a.k.a. “God-Bearer” because she is the mother of Jesus Christ, Who is God—mother of His Human Nature, but not the mother of His eternal Divine Nature, and not the mother of the Father or the Holy Spirit, both also eternal God but immaterial, and all three together are the one God Whom you also already worship, because they have the same Divine Essence—sorry it is so complicated) and the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple. Both holidays come from the same Holy Tradition as the Infancy Gospel of James. But I would avoid everything on that site in the “Gnostic” section. Authoritative commission from God went to the Apostles, and from the Apostles to their successors, the latter of whom condemned the Gnostic writings as heretical for going against the Holy Tradition.
I hope you will like my recommendations. ❤️
I am intimately familiar with Pseudigrapha and the archeological sites where most of it was found.
I recommend some of the following resources if you would like to learn about the textual significance, dating, meaning, and
James H Charlesworth
The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha ( 2 Volume set)
https://www.amazon.com/Old-Testament-Pseudepigrapha-set/dp/1598564897
THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS, I, I CLEMENT. II CLEMENT. IGNATIUS. POLYCARP. DIDACHE
BY BART D. EHRMAN
https://www.bartdehrman.com/apostolic-fathers-volume-1/
APOSTOLIC FATHERS: VOLUME II. EPISTLE OF BARNABAS. PAPIAS AND QUADRATUS. EPISTLE TO DIOGNETUS. THE SHEPHERD OF HERMAS
BY BART D. EHRMAN
https://www.bartdehrman.com/apostolic-fathers-volume-ii/
The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version
5th Edition
Jubilees: A Commentary in Two Volumes
James C. VanderKam (Author) Jubilees—so called because of its concern with marking forty-nine-year periods (or "jubilees") in Israel's history—is an ancient rewriting of Genesis and the first part of
https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9780800660352/Jubilees
1 Enoch 2: A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch, Chapters 37-82
George W. E. Nickelsburg (Author), James C. VanderKam (Author) 1 Enoch presents interpreters with a complex knot of interrelated puzzles concerning the history of early Judaism, the trajectories of wisdom and apocalyptic...
https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9780800698379/1-Enoch-2
1 Enoch 1: A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch, Chapters 1-36; 81-108
George W. E. Nickelsburg (Author), Klaus Baltzer (Editor) 1 Enoch is one of the most intriguing books in the Pseudepigrapha (Israelite works outside the Hebrew canon). It was originally written...
https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9780800660741/1-Enoch-1
If you want all three in one volume with introduction and scholarly translation and notes, then you want James Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. [Link goes to amazon for the two-volume set in paperback, poke around for volume one since that has the Enoch literature]. Fortress Press published the Hermenia translation of 1 Enoch in an inexpensive paperback, but not 2 Enoch or 3 Enoch.
I wrote this on reading translations of Enoch a few years ago.
Here is a link to H.R. Charles' translation from 1913. From my understanding this was the standard for an English translation of Enoch for a while. If you're willing to spend the money and would be interested in reading other 2nd Temple Judaism texts, I highly recommend the translation found in the James H. Charlesworth edited <em>The Old Testanent Pseudepigrapha</em>.
Charlesworth's two volume set of The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha is a must have, especially for the price. The books of Enoch can be found in volume one.